Design Notes

The Solaris and Lunaris Clans Await!

Shoot for the stars! Light and Darkness dominate the skies in an eternal clash for supremacy... and immensely-powerful artifacts!

Solaris and Lunaris Call to You!

This weekend, return to the /Mobius map in Chiral Valley and speak to either Saa'thel or Traveon. Ally with either the Lunaris or Solaris clans and, with your help, one side may finally gain the ability to control the stars... and Lore itself!

All-new Suggestion Shop Gear is Here!

Speak with Yulgar to view our all-new Suggestion items! We take your designs and put them in-game for ALL your friends to /equip! Because we've put so many of your ideas into AQW, the Suggestion Shop is overloaded!

Reminiscence Armor and Rune Falcon blade

So we're moving all the current gear into the Legendary Suggestions Shop. You can still buy those OR take a look at all the epic gear in the NEW Suggestions Shop!

Talk to Twilly for Power Gem Solution!

We've got a POWERFUL fix to the power gem problem! Talk to Twilly in Battleon (you'll find him on top of the gem-stack) once a week to get 1 Power Gem added straight into your inventory. You MUST have a confirmed email to get a Power Gem.

Twilly's got Your Gem!

The Power Gem link will ALSO be included in the newsletter emails, but if you do not receive an email for any reason, you can talk to Twilly in-game to get your Gem. You cannot get more than 1 Gem a week, so if you get it through your newsletter, you cannot get a 2nd from Twilly.

To confirm your email and begin receiving 1 FREE Power Gem each week, go here: Account Manager!If you see two stacks of Power Gem in your inventory, we will fix that next week.

Brasilian Independence Day!

Thanks for your continued support of AQWorlds, and congratulations on the anniversary of your Brasilian Independence Day! And to share the excitement that comes with a holiday like that, we've made the Brasilian Independence Day items available to everyone!

Aproveitem os raros épicos! There are some awesome new Brasil-themed items as well as all of the items from last year!

/Join Battleon to browse the 2012 Obrigado Shop!

FIVE colorful Arara pets!

A NEW armor set!*

All the returning seasonal rares!

* One of our Brasilian mods, Colosso (formerly Daimyo), requested we put his personal set into the shop this year. Obrigado, Colosso!

DOUBLE Ballyhoo Rewards for US Players!

Now through September 16th, if you live in the United States, when you visit Ballyhoo and watch our How To Train Your Dragon ad, receive DOUBLE the usual rewards! As long as you see the HTTYD video and background skin, you'll receive 1,000 gold OR a chance to gain 7 Adventure Coins! Just /join battleontown to view Ballyhoo ads up to 10 times a day!

All good Heroes should know the basics of How to Train Your Dragon... and her new ad shows you a great resource to do that! View her ad, then open the Magic Treasure Chest for a chance to gain either 7 free AdventureCoins OR 1,000 gold!

*If you live outside the US, you can still watch Ballyhoo's regular ads for a chance to get either 500 gold or a few Adventure Coins!

Coming Soon!

J6 the Bountyhunter is turning Builder! He wants to expand your housing selection, so what new houses would YOU like to live in?

Samba loves animals... and making sure you're protected! This month she'll introduce the member-only "My First Battle-Pet" shop. What starter battle-pets do you want?

We will announce the rewards of the Matomy Contest as soon as we get in touch with the winners!

The next Span release! (Are you ready to meet the zone's first Chaos Beast?)

Golden Plate Promo!

The Golden Rule: Those who have the gold... make the rules. Our special limited time GOLDEN PLATE PROMO is now live!

This has temporarily replaced the standard 1 Year Membership package for the same discounted price, and will only last for a limited time. Once the Promotion ends... this set will go RARE and the 1 Year Membership package will go back to normal.

The Golden Plate Promo comes with:

1 Year of AQW Membership

7000 AdventureCoins (1000 more than normal)

The Golden Plate Armor

The Golden Cape

The Golden helm

The Golden Axe

VIP Armor

VIP Helm

VIP Character Page Badge

Like the DOOM Starter Package, this upgrade is NOT retroactive BUT Memberships stack, so if you have 8 months left and decide to support AQW by purchasing this promo, you will have 1 year and 8 months of Membership plus all the extras!

Once you purchase the 1 year upgrade (either on AQW or by using Artix Points through your AE Master Account) here's how you access your new Golden Plate Set:

Log in to the AdventureQuest Worlds account that you upgraded.

Open your Book of Lore with your Book of Lore button!

Click the AE Bookmark tab on the left-hand side of the book.

Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the badge list and click on the Sold Gold Badge.

Click the Get Item button on the opposite page to access your new items!

If you are new to the 1 Year Membership, you can access your VIP Armor the same way, except you will find that badge in the Badges Bookmark Tab near the top of that badge list. While the Golden Plate Promo does not come with a Character page Badge, you WILL get a VIP badge on your character sheet for purchasing this or even the standard year upgrade.

This amazing set is a re-imagining of the classic Golden Plate armor from AQ classic by our own Dage The Evil. Remember, like the promo package before it, the Golden Plate Package is only available for a LIMITED TIME! This will be your only chance to get these items so don't miss it!

Chaos Returns to Wreak Havoc!

Destiny calls to you, Hero! It is time you learned what your true purpose on Lore is, and what you will need to do in order to fulfill it! A mysterious city has appeared to the west of Chiral Valley, and the townspeople of Swordhaven whisper that strange people and monsters walk its streets. Vital knowledge lies there, but only if you are willing to venture to the ends of space and time to grasp it!

Wastelands do not have cities appear atop them overnight… not unless magic is involved! And you can bet that Chaos is in play, too, especially since strange new creatures crawl, stalk, and float through its streets! Reports tell of a well-known mage haunting this unknown town, though that may be a traveler’s overactive imagination. Rumors fly about this new land; locals call it “The Span,” though they say it has a much more ancient, noble name. Hurry to The Span; it is vital you experience all that awaits in this new zone!

EBILCORP T-Shirts Now On Sale!

EBILCORP is looking for ambitious young people to join its new Young Executives Program. You are now able to show your support for the worlds most EBIL corporation and your disdain for the little guy with HeroMart's new EBILCORP T-shirt!

This shirt also comes with the EBILCORP Executive Armor (exactly like that worn by your illustrious leader, Chairman Platinum) in AQW as well as the EBILCORP Badge for your character page.

C'mon... Everybody likes being the bad guy!

Suggestion Shop Updated!

Today we have also released a very large expansion to the Player Suggestion Shop with a bunch of new armors, weapon and pets all suggested by players just like you!

Like the Armored Royal Prince (& Princess) armor suggested by player Royal Knight, the Shadow Manipulator armor suggested by player DarkonDrago and many more! Check them all out in the Suggestion Shop in Yulgar's Inn!

New Pet 'O the Month!

Head to Aria's Pet Shop to check out the member-only June Pet of the Month! Samba cobbled together a conga line of colorful Hermit Crabs!

The clock is counting down to Chaos!

There lies to the West an unexplored land... but not for much longer! Journey this Friday to The Span, the hub town for the next Chaos zone. Where a vast wasteland once lay, there now stand the ruins of a town ravaged by a long-ago war. How it got there, no one knows. The people walking its streets APPEAR normal. The monsters roaming the alleys do not; their like has never been seen before in your world.

Night Hunter Armor, sold by a small, strange vendor

The taint of Chaorruption is not strong here... yet. The townspeople in Swordhaven whisper the name "Tibattleonia." It means nothing to you now, but that will change VERY soon. Hurry to The Span, Hero; it is vital that you experience all that awaits you there!

This Friday: 1 Year Golden Membership Package!

This weekend, for a limited time we will be offering a NEW membership package with an incredibly shiny bonus! (And we're not talking about the ACs.) Starting THIS FRIDAY, purchasing a 1 year membership will get you:

1 year of AQWorlds membership (and the growing list of perks that comes with it!)

The Golden Plate set (armor, helm, cape, weapon)

7,000 Adventure Coins (that's an extra 1,000 ACs!)

Dage crafted a blindingly bright, super-shiny version of the original AdventureQuest's Golden Plate! Once this offer is gone, the Golden Plate set will NEVER return!

There's only one word to describe this set: AU-some!

Even if you're already an AQW Member, getting 1,000 extra ACs and a RARE armor set for the same price as the regular 1 year membership1 is a pretty good deal!

Suggestion Shop Update!

This is hardly a petty Suggestion Shop update... because we're offering FOUR new pets by Samba! She's created the Unicornasaurus Rex, Draglin, Flame Butterfly, and Chibi Fox envisioned by your fellow players!

Butterfly in the sky, your flame's gonna make me fry!

And to make things even COOLER, Aranx has made some hot gear based on the suggestions posted on the forum. Make sure to /join Yulgar this Friday to pick up a pet or armor of your own!

Srs Mid-week Member-only Update is srs!

HAY GUIZ! Srsly, lolcats? Ya rly, lolcats! If you've only just signed on to the internet, you have missed a crazy cat-based caption sensation! This week's member-only update is based on the lols and lore one only finds when you combine cat-like creatures, horribly-contagious grammar, and the mind of a mad Weaponsmith! Log in Wednesday to experience this rly kewl release!

Design Notes done! I'm going to go see how much damage Artix did to Rolith's boss in tonight's D&D battle! (Who would have expected him to roll a natural 20?) Have a great night, guys!

Where Galanoth's Future is Decided!

Under a blood-red sky, a dragon is about to die! All dragons do, when facing Galanoth, right? He is not in any Etherstorm Realm you've seen yet, and there is no way for YOU to get to him. You will be too busy working to save the dragons and elements of Lore. No time to...

...find out just where Galanoth went! Or what he plans to do now that he's there! But the way he's holding that sword indicates that he's NOT on a mission of peace! Which dragon is about to feel the wrath of Galanoth the DragonSlayer? (We all know he is not very fond of fire dragons...)

MEANWHILE, IN THE WATER REALM: you have learned the location of the new Prime Dragons! Now your task is to unravel the complexly woven protection spell that is guarding them! (Wait... the Priests knew where they were all along? What?!)

Quest through a marsh that flows into the open ocean! Battle Marsh Lurkers, fishy foes, and wipe out water monsters as you race to an undersea finish! And don't forget:

The Deep Dweller waits!

Oh, and keep an eye out for anything fishy on the beach. Something that prooooobably shouldn't be there. Once you find it, run away. Fast.

Suggestion Shop Update!

Dage, Solrac and Jemini have whipped up some wildly awesome Suggestion Shop items based on the work of Impactor, Ayuzu, and disturbed indestructible!

Fantasy Warrior and Disturbed Blade!

Fantasy Armor - Impactor

Valkyrie Blade - Ayuzu

Disturbed Blade - distrubed indestructible

Seaweed Hat/Hairstyle - Ganloth

Fantasy Warrior and Valkyrie Blade!

Mid week release reminder!

Hey MEMBERS! Make sure you /join tower to check out the newest mid-week member-only release! Learn about the shadowy Silent Sentinels, an organization within the Guardian Order itself!

Coming next week!

Get ready for:

Etherstorm Earth Realm!

Member-only Mid-week release in Cornelis!

Quibble arrives in Battleon with an Etherstorm-themed shop!

New weapons in Chinese New Year shop!

Have a GREAT weekend, guys! Enjoy the release, stay dry, and make sure you keep an eye on the calendar, because the arrival of the next Chaos Lord draws ever closer...

That seems like a silly SkyPirate strategy...

Afternoon, Heroes and Heroines and Anti-Heroes! (Not the same thing as Villains according to literary theory!) Cysero told Twitter that I would write Design Notes. Now, I didn't think that was really wise since I'm taking some medicine for pain (I had 3 wisdom teeth pulled yesterday), but I trust Cysero! He's never steered me wrong yet, except for the time he suggested I eat the snozzberry yogurt. But might have dreamed that memory.

OOOH speaking of literature, I was reading a book Monday to distract myself from the pain in my mouth and it was about Hannibal using elephants in war. And THAT led to my dream - which happened when Rolith made me take a NAP (even though I need to work and not sleep!) - which was KIND OF about the release...

In that I dreamed about the SkyGuard (visions of BattleOn, Arcangrove, Lolosia, and more exploding as SkyPirate bombs fell on them) and SkyPirates using (this is a REALLY bad idea, pirates) purple elephants to attack the SkyGuard's Department of Strategization...

which sounds like defenestration...

which means to throw out of a window...

and the eyes are the window to the soul...

and sailors say "Aye Aye Cap'n"...

and the SkyGuard are sailors of the air...

and air is in hairspray...

which they use to style beehive bouffants...

which sounds like elephants...

that the SkyPirates want to purple! It all makes SENSE!@!!!

......

The TV and the DVR are glaring at me with malice in their beady little red LEDs. They're going to get me, and Rolith's out getting more juice! Oh NOOOOO!

I'm gonna need a Hero! And the SkyGuard are holding on for a Hero 'til the end of the Flight! You've gotta be brave, gotta /unsheath at the sight of SkyPirates as they start to fight!

Members will get a chance to be Heroes and earn a SkyPirate Slayer character page badge this Friday!

I need a heeeeeeee-rooooooo-oooooo! Don't need teeth to sing. Success!

FOCUS. Need to FOCUS. Writing DESIGN NOTES.

Also successful (we think) will be this Friday's Limited Time Shop (member-only items sold for gold)! Cysero talked about that here. Cysero talks about a lot of things (he is REALLY smart! No joke.), and this is one of the ones you should definitely remember to pay attention to.

If you follow that link, you'll ALSO get to learn, or to remember if you've already learned it, about the update to the Treasure Chests this week! We're not going to stop filling those until you have HUNDREDS of items to collect! (That is a HUGE chest! Perhaps it is a Treasure Chest of Holding. HAH! D&D reference. I love being a nerd.)

We will also TRY to update the Player Suggestion shop. It depends on how much time we have.

Dragon*Con does NOT Drag On!

It can't, because it NEVER STOPS. It's 1:46AM and Yergen, Rolith, and I are sitting around relaxing and going over the AWESOME panel we hosted earlier today. But first, let's go over the AQWorlds release before I either fall asleep or fall into the middle of a conga line of StormTroopers. Both options are equally as likely to happen.

Mystery MMO (Massively Molten Operation)

That's right, a mystery villain has kidnapped you and dropped you at the bottom of a volcano! He doesn't want to have to deal with you because he KNOWS how much trouble you were the LAST time he dealt with you.

That's right. You've tangled with him before. But not in AQWorlds. Good luck taking on his fiery, furious riddle-laden dungeon crawl. I mean it. You better hope you're lucky, because he is INSANE.

20 floors of battling on will have you in a frenzy of flame-laden fighting until you reach the top... and FREEDOM!

Suggestion Shop Update!

Raging Fire (by Na Tra)

Legendary Bow (by xserenax)

The Unknown (by theavenger07)

Unknown Hood (by theavenger07)

Medieval Shadow (by Dudulokinho)

False Blade of Champions (by Ayuzu)

Turbulence (by Ninjudo)

Members' Free Treasure Chest Keys Coming Soon!

We're all at Con. Working. Yep. Working. (And playing. It's a company retreat to learn, meet players, and recharge our creative batteries.) So we will get the functionality for the 2 free Member Keys working once we get back to the Lab on Tuesday.

Con Fun! (Not Con Funk. That's different, and gross.)

We have already had SO much fun, and met so many awesome players! Aeonarial, Practel, CrystalStar, and so many more came to our Player Pizza Party! We destroyed 30 pizzas, had a lot of laughs, and got a lot of great ideas for AQWorlds!

Today's panel was AWESOME! We announced 3 VERY big announcements which I will let either Artix or Cysero tell you next week. (Unless you hear it on Twitter or the forums from someone who was here.) Voltaire came and performed live. We gave away calendars and Zazul threw a LOT of candy at people.

It's 2AM. Rolith and I are going to go find Trouble. (When Cysero is involved, the word uses a capital T.) Trouble will likely include a Wookie, a superhero, and possibly a Hynotoad. We'll have to see!

Cysero will share more stories and many pictures here in the DNs next week! For regular Twitter updates from Con, just check my Twitter account, or Cysero's, or Artix's!

Duel Invites option turned OFF!

Do you love battling your friends and foes, but only on your OWN terms? Do you want to prevent nasty cases of random "Shattered-Skull Syndrome" or inconvenient bouts of the "Battered-Bone Blues"?

Yes? Excellent! Then we have the solution for YOU! Just head into your options menu and uncheck the Duel Invites button!

Your Options screen if you DON'T want to duel.

This new option is LIVE! (Right now!) But that's not all Yorumi's made progress on...

Character Pages are getting a NEW look!

Have you ever wondered what AWESOME armor the enchanting new Mage in your party has equipped? Too shy to ask? Then you'll find our handy-dandy, new and improved Character Page feature that displays what your fellow players are wearing a huge help:

Yorumi worked hard ALL day! /Cheer him on!

This feature should go live this Friday! It's looking good in testing, so with luck, you'll have a shiny new, much more useful, character page this weekend!

Bits 'n' Bobs about other News

An update is coming to the Player Suggestion shop! Mennace, Skyline, and Dage will all contribute as they bring to life (bring to Flash? That doesn't sound as impressive somehow...) the ideas of players just like you! The next update could showcase YOUR creativity, but you have to show us what you've got, and you can do that here!

The Event Rare shop in the ArcAttack zone will go rare THIS Friday! So if you want to equip epic electrical-themed gear, get it now!

The weapon/item drops from the Shadowfall War will ALSO go rare this Friday! The Darkness Gems that drop which are used in the War Merge shop will NOT go rare, nor will the items in the Merge shop.

Have an excellent Tuesday night! We'll see you all tomorrow for another day of writin', gamin', and rockin' the Secret Underground Lab!

...but attacking SHADOWFALL?

Darkness! Doom! The bones of MILLIONS OF UNDEAD!!! All of this and more are almost in Noxus and Vordred's grasp... IF they succeed in conquering Shadowfall! It is an epic battle for both Light AND Dark this week; only YOU will be able to save Gravelyn's home and undead army - and you'd better, if you want to have any hope of saving Lore.

Noxus and Vordred are on their way to Gravelyn's throne room and you've got a ways to travel from DoomWood to Shadowfall. So grab your most terrifying weapons, equip your highest enhancements, and prepare to /unsheath on a moment's notice because THIS FRIDAY the war for ShadowFall BEGINS!

War rares galore AND a Player Suggestion shop update will have you stuffing your backpack with new loot until it's so heavy you'll need to train your STR in order to carry it!

Paladin/DoomKnight Revamp 2.0 Begins!

Last week we launched the introduction of the re-vamped DoomKnight and Paladin classes. Many of you were really happy with the changes, but enough of you wanted to see MORE! So we're going back to the coding board and seeing how we can fine-tune, rework, and SUPERCHARGE those improvements!

Revamp 2.0 begins this week; we'll keep you posted on details as we work out and change up the numbers!

Chaos Shaper - Shaping up Nicely!

Chaos will recreate you into a completely new form, but not if YOU master it first! This LUCK-based class will have you causing pure havok on the battlefield; your enemies won't know what hit them, only that they're down for the count and seeing stars! (Or skulls, if they're undead.)

Male Chaos Shaper class

Because this is a preview, and because we love teasing you with information, here are the NAMES of the skills:

Twist Time

Chaos Fog

Chaotic Touch

Death Grip

Two un-named passives which will deal crit and damage

Yorumi is in a coding frenzy getting the code right. Cysero's given him a list of twisted skills to confound, confuse, and concuss your enemies until they won't be able to STAND against you, let alone attack you!

We're making good progress on the class and hope to have it done soon. We'll keep you posted!

Things we are working on RIGHT NOW!

We had a meeting this morning to go over plans for AQWorlds. They were divided into 3 parts: Immediate, Current, and Future plans.

Projects we are working on for this week:

Shadowfall war: this week's release, with rare items galore and a nifty Suggest Shop update.Color palette fix: this will NOT get fixed this week, but Yorumi is working with Zhoom on it.Doomwood being added to the map: on Friday you'll be able to walk to Doomwood!

Projects we are making progress on:

New Tutorial coming: To make the new player experience the BEST it can be, we're introducing a tutorial! Written by Cysero, this walkthrough of gameplay basics should make getting in-game, gearing up, and getting your BATTLE ON much faster and more fun!

Battle On Battle Cards EXPANSION PACKS!!!If you enjoyed the card game, you'll LOVE these two expansion packs featuring ALL NEW cards!

PaladinSlayer Pack:This will feature a doom-filled deck of darkness and destruction! The featured card-game class will be... PaladinSlayer! (NOT the same as UndeadSlayer, which is an in-game class which will come in Doomwood!) You'll get cards like "...On a Bonemuncher!" and "Vordred's Sword"!*

Chaos Pack:Chaos consumes ALL! And with this chaotic card-deck you'll be able to completely chaorrupt your friends! The featured card-game class will be... Chaos Lord! (NOT the same as an in-game Chaos Lord class. That doesn't exist.) You'll get cards like "Yokai Dexterity" and "Chaorrupted"!**

We do not know what the in-game items attached to these will be. But we will think of some! We're working hard on the expansions, but do not yet have a confirmed release date. We will keep you updated on when that will be!

* Card names are subject to change. These are just examples.** These are examples too, and will change if we can come up with something more AWESOME!

Forum question: What cards would YOU like to see in the Paladinslayer and Chaos card decks? Let us know and your favorite weapons, pets, armors, counters and traps might end up in the expansion pack!

WAR is coming to Battleon!

It's been quite a while since we've had a war in AQW and it's long past time. If you have never participated in a war on AQW then here's what you need to know: Everyone fights. Noone quits. If you quit I'll kill you myself.

Actually I won't kill you. I won't even toss a clever remark your way and i LOVE doing that. It's just a quote from a movie.

There are a set number of foes (which sometimes changes depending on the storyline) and you try to defeat all the waves. As you progress you will venture further and further into enemy territory until you reach the War General who has been sending his troops at you, and usually the reason for the attacks is revealed.

This time we will alsi be dropping stackable items that you be able to use in a merge shop to acquire some War Rares, and when you reach the boss there will be MORE rares for you to obtain if you have th guts and stamina.

Some people weren't made for war. Some people were born to be farmers. Coincidentally, you warriors will spend a lot of your time farming the war.

This war will all be building up to NEXT week's Fear Chaser event!

We will also be adding a few new Player Suggestion items to the Player Suggestion shop in Yulgar. Remember that the ONLY way to see your ideas get into game is adding them to the Suggestion Threads on the AQW Forums!

Here's a taste of what's to come. This is the Royal Fang Armor and helm suggested by Royal Knight and crafted for AQW by Polistar. The loincloth is color custom to your armor color and the eys match your Accessory color!

AQW Anything Goes Battleon Battle Cards!

You've already heard all of this if you follow me on Twitter, but this weekend I played took my advance deck of AQW Battle Cards home this weekend to play-test it with Nursey (my wife) and Alces (my best friend). I wanted to know how easy it was to understand for someone who had never seen it before and really didn't have much or any experience with card games.

I slaughtered Alces but Nursey took me down. It was her first game EVER and she beat me flat. I couldn't be more proud of my wife.

I also went to my local comic shop and purchased some card sleeves for the cards themselves and a deck box (These items do NOT come with the game, nor will we sell them on HeroMart). looks pretty professional if i say so myself.

The more I play this game the more fun I have with it. I can't wait to bring it to DragonCon and play some of you guys!

Remember, these go on sale APRIL 18th in U.S. Toys R Us stores around the country. If you live outside the US or your local store didn't get any of the game then you will have to way until early May for the cards to be available on HeroMart.